Wall Street ends up for second day on hopes for Russia relief

US stocks ended higher today, extending the rally from Friday as investors hoped that Russia's move to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine would ease tensions between the two countries.

Earlier in the day, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned of a "high probability" that Russia, using the guise of a humanitarian mission, could intervene militarily in Ukraine. Ukraine has also said that, contrary to Russian reports of de-escalating, Russia has massed 45,000 troops on its border.

Investors did not seem fazed by the reports. The Market Vectors Russia Exchange-Traded Fund, which gives investors exposure to publicly traded companies based in Russia, gained 1.43 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 16.05 points, or 0.10 percent, to end at 16,569.98, still below its close at the end of 2013. The S&P 500 gained 5.33 points, or 0.28 percent, to finish at 1,936.92. The Nasdaq Composite added 30.43 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 4,401.33.

European shares rebounded from a two-week drop, with the German DAX market outperforming.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which had fallen some 7 percent over the last two weeks, closed up 1.3 percent at 1,323.12 points.

Japanese stocks posted their biggest daily jump in four months today. The Nikkei share average jumped 2.4 percent to 15,130.52 points, its biggest daily percentage gain since mid April. It recouped most of its steep losses suffered on Friday.